Cooby Creek and Expo 67

Cooby Creek – Expo 67

Expo 67

Expo 67 – full name “1967 International and Universal Exposition” – was held in Montreal to correspond with the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

The Expo ran for six months from late April to late October, with the theme “Man and his World”.

The Australian Pavilion at Expo 67 was a space-age curved structure showcasing the latest Australian technology. It included models of the Parkes Radio Telescope and the Snowy Hydroelectric Scheme. Visitors could sit in “talking chairs” with inbuilt speakers.

Some of the chairs and the model of the radio telescope were installed in the Vistors’ Centre at Parkes which opened in early 1969.

The Australian pavillion with the talking chairs and the model of the Parkes Radio Telescope. The model is still on display at the Parkes visitors’ centre.

Photo credit: National Archives of Australia, image A1200, L62776.

Some of the talking chairs were installed in the original visitors’ centre at Tidbinbilla. They may have come via Parkes.

Undated photo by Hamish Lindsay. Scan: Colin Mackellar.

Each country had its Special Day, and Australia’s was Tuesday 06 June 1967. Prime Minister Harold Holt was on hand. In Australia, it was the early hours of Wednesday 07 June.

Cooby Creek received a live broadcast via ATS-1 (otherwise known as ATS-B) and Rosman Tracking Station in North Carolina, originating from Montreal. (Video came through Cooby Creek. The audio channel came via the COMPAC Pacific cable and the OTC.)

The Expo 67 graphic at the beginning of the broadcast.

The ABC’s Eric Hunter was the man on the spot to introduce the programme. Just two weeks later he was at the CSIRO’s ‘Phytotron’ plant growth laboratory in Canberra to host a segment for Our World.

Eric Hunter introduces the broadcast with the Montreal skyline behind him.

This graphic was apparently produced by the Department of Supply for media organisations to publicise the upcoming broadcast.

The text on the back of the print reads,

“Illustration showing the ATS-B satellite in position 22,300 miles over the centre of the Pacific Ocean. The satellite was launched in December last year by the United States, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for research and development work.

The satellite will be used on June 7th this year for the first live telecast via satellite from North America to Australia. The Australian Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Harold Holt M.P., will make an historic appearance in the telecast which will cover Australia's Special Day at Expo '67, Montreal, Canada”

From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan: Colin Mackellar.

The Expo 67 proramme was the first television broadcast from outside Australia to be seen live by the public, and was relayed to the Eastern States through the ABC to commercial broadcasters.

This related graphic gives an idea of the domestic Australian distribution of the broadcast. (In 1967, there was no television relay from the Eastern states to Western Australia.)

From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan: Colin Mackellar.

Viewers were treated to performances by The Seekers (video 1 and video 2 – external links to YouTube), Normie Rowe, Rolf Harris and Bobby Limb.

Robert Helpmann, who directed a tour of Canada by the Australian Ballet, also appeared during the programme.

This newspaper clipping, preserved by Terry Newman, previews the Expo 67 telecast.

Click the image for fuller text.

This clipping from The TV Times of 31 May 1967, preserved by Terry Newman, explains what is planned for the Expo 67 telecast.

Detail from the above. Many children (including this author) got up early to watch the last few hours of the broadcast before school.

Below are some Polaroid images taken by Neil Sandford at Cooby Creek during the broadcast. (Photographs of the Polaroids by Colin Mackellar. With thanks to Neil Sandford. As Neil points out in his hand written anotations, the Polaroids do not do justice to the received picture.)